Anyone that's tried to bore an extremely deep hole through a long piece of timber while mounted on the lathe has probably encountered this problem. It's rather difficult to keep the bit centered in the piece whether the work is mounted on the headstock and the drill bit in a chuck in the tailstock, or vice-versa. Well, I asked a machinist friend how in the world it's possible to drill the entire length of a gun barrel bore while keeping the bit centered. He said it's done by turning both the bit and the work piece at the same time, in opposite directions, obviously.

So -

I've scrounged a 12vDV motor with gear reduction and plenty of torque to turn the bit. My plan is to build a fixture mounted on the tailstock quill to hold the motor which I'll use with a belt drive of some kind to turn a drill chuck (bearing type like a live center) that will advance with the bit while both the work and the bit are doing their thing.

Now to the question -

Lacking a bonafide 12v power source I tried using my auto battery charger as a power source for the motor. It works OK but I'm wondering if this is a wise idea, using the battery charger as the electrical supply over a period of time and under load. I don't have any motor name plate specs to know the amp/wattage draw.

Thanks for any feedback. Oh, the motor is off of an old 3m satellite dish TV antenna actuator.

DENNIS S: MacGuyver lives a question of curiosity. Hole diameter. Stock dimensions.Will grain deflection be a problem. As a fallback, can you rip the material rout or saw an appropriate size groove then glue the halves together?

Newtooth - As for what I'm making ... I forget what prompted me to explore the technique. Grain deflection is always a problem when boring deep holes as you most likely know. But my machinist friend, who is also a wood turner, assured me that this approach, with both the work and the drill rotating, would overcome it.

Zulu - Quite frankly I don't even have a project in mind other than perhaps boring pen blanks for the brass inserts. But I have good success doing this with a drill press and holding fixture.

It's mostly out of curiosity I'm exploring the process in the first place. But the question remains, should I be using the battery charger as a power source? I know - way off base with respect to a woodworking forum, but this is where I have my afternoon coffee chat.

They make a lot of salt and pepper holders at the woodworking school I belong to. I see them drill out the hole in the lathe with an Irwin Spade Bit, the one with the points and the cupped out blade part. I know they make lots of them and the teachers there are good craftsmen. So while there may be better methods, that is one that I have seen work.

Hope that helps.

Ron

_________________"To all those who work come moments of beauty unseen by the rest of the world." Norman Maclean

DENNIS S: after doing some looking on the web, it seems that the battery charger should do the job BUT what I found is that you want to use a battery for the source to the motor but hook the charger to the battery to keep it up. You may find that amperage gets into play and that the charger battery hookup may not give sufficient for the use also run time may present difficulties with heat. Could you use a regular electric motor and a bunch of stepdown gearing or pulleys and belts to power up a counter rotating arbor.

I was thinking the same thing as newtooth. Use a standard automotive 12V battery and hook up the charger to maintain voltage. I wonder too if a deep cycle battery would make any difference. Deep cycles don't have much cold cranking amps that it takes to start an engine but, they maintain 12V for a longer period of time. I had one on my tool truck for keeping the florescent lights going and the fan on the heater for a long time.You must remember however, I seldom know what I'm talking about.

_________________Dont badmouth no strangers, they just friends you aint met yet.

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I spent most of my money on woodworking
tools and beer, the rest I just wasted.

I can't say as I know how it's done, but I've seen floor lamps that are 4 to 5 feet tall with holes drilled through them for the electrical cord, so there has to be a way to do it ......of course a lamp wouldn't be all that critical to keep it dead centered, but it's a thought.

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